STATE COLLEGE – Penn State doesn't necessarily need a sharp shooter to win games but having at least one reliable shooter would've helped the Nittany Lions Tuesday night.

The Lions shot just 30 percent, going just 2-for-20 from beyond the arc and the starters combined to go 14-of-48. The result was an all-too familiar loss for the Lions who fell to Purdue, 58-49. Penn State (8-14, 0-10 Big Ten) led by as many as nine points in the first half but simply couldn't hit shots to close out the game.

“They were giving us a lot of good looks. A lot of shots went up,” D.J. Newbill said of his team's season-high 62 field goal attempts. “We missed some shots we normally make but I think they turned up the defense but we were still getting good shots, shots we usually make.”

The Lions limited their opponent to less than 60 points, a number head coach Patrick Chambers pointed to several times this season as a key to victory. But, the Lions were out-manned in the paint where the Boilermakers (12-11, 5-5 Big Ten) took a 36-20 scoring advantage.

Ross Travis came off the bench to give the Lions a presence down low but Travis' eight points weren't enough for a team that couldn't consistently drive to the basket. Newbill is the Lions' only true player who can penetrate and the team's other scoring option, Jermaine Marshall, had an off night converting on just 2-of-14 shots.

“It's like a golf game when you can't get off the tee you're making puts. When you get off the tee you're not making puts,” Chambers said. “I don't know what to tell you. If Jermaine has an average game who knows? We might be sitting here with a win, but that's not the case.”

Newbill led the team with 17 points and had his 19th double-digit scoring game of the season. His seven assists tied a career best and he helped give the Lions a 21-12 lead with less than six minutes remaining in the first half. That nine-point lead was Penn State's largest in any conference game this season.

During the final four minutes of the first half and the opening four minutes of the second half is where Chambers said his team let the game slip away. The Boilermakers put up eight points during the last four minutes of the first half to head into the locker room trailing 25-24.

Out of the break Purdue hit three layups and a free throw to go up by 31-26 before Penn State regrouped during a media timeout. Still, the momentum had shifted during the opening four minutes and by the end of the game Chambers sensed his team a little on edge toward one another. He gathered them around the bench with 12 seconds remaining to reiterate that no one in his program would point fingers.

“It's real simple. When you go through adversity and challenges and you're losing it's really easy to start pointing fingers,” he said. “It's really easy to not stick together. My point was, and I've been saying this since we're at the half-way point, you've got to get each other's backs. When times go tough you've got to come together even more.”

Newbill has been a large reason both on the court and in the locker room why this thing hasn't completely unraveled and spiraled out of control despite the team's record. Chambers said Newbill continues to “do his best Tim (Frazier) impersonation” as he tries to lead the team during a season where it's star point guard is injured.

“Every game is tough. Every loss is even tougher,” Newbill said. “Our goal is to be the best team we can be by the end of the season. We all have a great attitude, we keep pushing. Nobody is hanging their head. … We feel like we deserve a win and soon we're going to get one.”